Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
Aim: This study aimed to present the research productivity of Pakistan in the field of medical sciences as reflected in the Scopus database.
Methods: The retrospective research method was used on the retrieved dataset at the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia on the 2nd of March 2021. We collected bibliometric data on medical sciences produced by the authors affiliated to Pakistan during the first two decades of the 21st century from January 2001 to December 2020, using the Scopus-Elsevier database. We downloaded the total number of published papers on nine broad categories of medical sciences with at least one author affiliated to Pakistan. The data was distributed by years and by subject categories, further, top-ten authors, journals, institutions, and collaborative countries were presented in tabular form. VOS viewer software was applied to visualize the co-occurrence pattern of authors and keywords.
Results: Pakistan produced 54,717 documents related to medical sciences in the targeted period with 2,735 papers per year. The majority of research was done on the subject category of Medicine and Zulfiqar A. Bhutta was found the most prolific researcher. Slightly less than half of the documents were published in top-ten national journals. The Aga Khan University and Hospital have emerged as the most productive research producing organization and most of the research was carried out in collaboration with the United States.
Conclusion: Out of the total research productivity for twenty years, more than one-fourth (27%) of total research was related to medical sciences. Pakistan shared 0.58% of the global research output in 2019. There is a need to articulate a practicable strategic plan to boost the research culture in the country.